


You Tip-Toed In And You Got Under My Skin

by CaptainLeBubbles



Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [15]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-24 00:34:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23434036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: Nora decides it's bring-your-niece-to-work day at Beacon and follows Tai to work.
Relationships: Nora Valkyrie & Roman Torchwick, Roman Torchwick & Taiyang Xiao Long, Taiyang Xiao Long & Nora Valkyrie
Series: The Hallmarks of a Family (Hallmarks AU) [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1200967
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	You Tip-Toed In And You Got Under My Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Me: -takes a few days off from writing to let my brain rest-  
> Me: Oh no, am I losing steam D:  
> Me: -gets back and writes like nearly an entire chapter in a few hours-  
> Me: Oh, turns out I was just being dramatic
> 
> Sorry for the delay! My brain needed rest, but hey, bright side, I got another three weeks added to my time off, so I'm going to continue having lots of time to write.

-/-

“Can I go to work with you tomorrow?” Nora had asked last night over dinner, citing boredom with their usual summer break routine and then shooting down every objection Tai made about how bored she would be sitting around while he worked.

Eventually, he’d relented. Partly because his cherished niece was a devious and determined negotiator, but mostly because he kind of wanted her to see what his job was like. 

Besides, he only had two actual Tuesday-Thursday classes during summer, and the rest of the day was spent in office hours and other work, so he had a better chance of keeping her entertained than if he was in front of a classroom all day.

She trotted happily through the halls beside him now, hand tucked into his and arm swinging cheerily while she chattered a mile a minute about the latest issue of X-Ray and Vav for the whole walk to his office.

“And  _ then _ when it looked like the Mad King had them beaten, Kazooie— oh, hi Mr. Torchwick.”

Tai broke out of the slight daze he went into when any of his kids tried to explain the plot of X-Ray and Vav, and gave Roman a sunny smile in greeting of his own while he unlocked his door to let them all in.

“Hey, Roman. Why are you at my office?”

“My eight o’clock class got canceled because the professor went into labor or something. So now I’m free until twelve. I was going to see if you wanted some company, but it looks like you’ve already got that covered. Hi, sparkplug. Holding up?”

“I’m good.”

“Scarlet’s having her baby?”

“According to the sign on the door.”

“But that’s… super early. She’s not due till the end of August.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m just repeating what the door said.”

Tai frowned. “I’m going down to reception to see if Jade knows anything. Do you mind keeping an eye on Nora for a few minutes?”

“Sure. She’s easily my favorite of your kids.”

“You barely see her compared to the other two.”

He grinned toothily. “Exactly.”

“Okay, well, that’s not concerning or anything. Just watch her? I won’t be long.”

Once he was gone, Nora turned to him expectantly. “Are you still fighting with Uncle Qrow?”

Roman folded his arms. “We’re not fighting, he’s just… not happy with me about something. It’s not important.” He cocked his head thoughtfully. “I have a question for you, actually.”

“What is it?”

“Why do you still call him Uncle Qrow? Why not Dad or something? I’d have thought after all that trouble you went through you’d have jumped on the dad train immediately. What’s up with that?”

Nora’s face flushed red at this, and she ducked her head in embarrassment. “I’m waiting to see what Penny picks,” she mumbled.

“What.”

“When Uncle Qrow and Mr. Ironwood get married. I want me and Penny to match, so I’m waiting to see what she picks, so we can match.”

“Ah.” Roman pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “All right. But have you told Qrow about this?”

“No. He always gets mad when I say things about him and Mr. Ironwood getting married cause he says we’re planning his wedding behind his back even if he’s not ready for that.”

“And how do you think he feels, when his daughter calls him Uncle right on?”

Nora’s expression fell. “Oh… I didn’t think of that…”

“It’s up to you what you do. But you should probably think about that. Anyway, why not talk to Penny and find out what she thinks? No reason you can’t just go ahead and decide together now.”

“...oh. I didn’t think of that, either.”

“Well, you’re only eleven. You can’t be expected to think of everything.”

“Hey, I’m very nearly almost twelve!”

“Jesus Christ, I forgot what tweens are like.” He flipped his bangs back (they fell immediately back into place) and shook his head. “Why can’t you be happy being the age you are? Always chasing a slightly higher number. You’re kids! Enjoy it! Trust me, you don’t want to go growing up any faster than you have to.”

“But, well.” She shrugged. “Everyone always says that I can’t do stuff till I’m older or bigger. And I’m not getting much bigger, except maybe outwardly.” 

She looked down to consider herself. According to Qrow, her weight gain had leveled out, so as near as he could figure she was the size she was ‘supposed’ to be, but it still felt like she was expanding outward more than upward. But according to Uncle Tai, this was just because several of her friends were in the middle of growth spurts, and so her own miniscule height was more noticeable.

According to Ruby, still flat as a board, she was only expanding outwardly ‘where it mattered’, but according to Yang, Ruby would change her position on that soon enough. (According to Qrow, Yang could thank her Nai Nai for that, since she certainly didn’t get it from his side of the family.)

“Eh, nothing wrong with being small. I was small until my late teens, and then I shot up a bit. As for outward expansion…” He gestured at his own soft edges. “Nothing wrong with that, either.”

“I wonder if we’re related,” Nora said, eyeing him thoughtfully. “We’ve both got red hair and green eyes and similar body types. You think we could be kin?”

“Oh, this isn’t my natural color,” he said, plucking at a strand of vibrant hair. “But consider this: you and the little robot girl. You look an awful lot alike for two girls completely unrelated, and you  _ are _ both adopted. Are you sure you’re not related? You haven’t got a Sister Sister situation going on, have you?”

“A what?”

“Eh, before your time. Before my time, too, really, but it was in syndication when I was a little younger than you and I watched it after school.” When she still looked baffled, he waved it away. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Point is… oh, welcome back.” He broke off as Tai came back in, and said, “So what’s up with Scarlet?”

“She’s fine.” Tai settled into his desk. “Well, comparatively fine. She went in for complications, and they decided the safest option was inducing labor early. That’s all I really know, the information is private unless she wants to share it. But it sounds like she’s doing well, all things considered..”

“Is the baby going to be okay?” Nora asked.

“Last Jade heard she was, but obviously an early birth like that carries its risks. So keep your fingers crossed for her.” He changed the subject here, with, “So how’d everything go while I was gone? No trouble, I hope?”

“Little sparkplug here thinks we could be related since we’re both redheads,” Roman said.

“You’re not a natural redhead, though,” Tai pointed out.

“...how do you know that?”

“I’ve… seen your roots? Roman, your eyebrows are brown. Was it supposed to be a secret?”

“Well, no, but.” He sat back, a little too stunned to say more. Tai cocked his head.

“Are you okay, buddy?”

“I’m fine.” He stood. “I should probably take advantage of the surprise free class to get some studying done, actually. I’m going to the library. See you around, Tai. Sparkplug.”

“Kay. See you later…” Tai watched him go with a frown, then turned to Nora and forced a smile. “So, honey, how are you enjoying your day at the college so far?”

But Nora had been watching them both closely for the brief exchange, and now she gave a small, private smile of her own. “I think it’s been  _ very _ informative.”

-/-

**Author's Note:**

> I want you all to know that though the idea was dropped almost immediately but there was a point where I considered the idea that Penny and Nora were, in fact, related, given how much their natural pallet matches up in canon. I also briefly considered involving Torchwick in this, but cast the idea aside since I had already decided to establish him as not a natural redhead.


End file.
